Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, faced criticism from various political perspectives after his appearance on ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ on Monday. During the show, El-Sayed compared circumcision to child sex changes, which sparked controversy.

Jesse Watters, the host, questioned El-Sayed, asking, “So you think it’s okay for a parent to slash his kid’s ding-a-ling off?” El-Sayed responded by asking Watters if he was circumcised. Watters countered, “Circumcision’s different than castration.” El-Sayed argued, “It’s a problem that you think you get to decide what happens between a parent, a doctor, and a patient. I’m just saying that, yes, circumcision is surgery on a kid’s ding-a-ling.”

Not everyone agreed with El-Sayed’s comparison between circumcision and sex changes. Ryan Grim of the left-wing outlet DropSite News commented, “This talking point isn’t it.” Similarly, Andrew Laufer, a civil rights attorney, expressed agreement with Watters.

“Abdul El-Sayed just compared circumcision to chopping a kid’s entire penis off,” wrote Andrew Kolvet, spokesperson for Turning Point USA. “Circumcision and castration are not the same, Abdul!”

Conservative pundit Benny Johnson criticized El-Sayed, comparing him unfavorably to Kamala Harris. Clay Travis of OutKick also commented on the topic. In contrast, some reactions included humor about the exchange, like Chuck Ross from the Washington Free Beacon making a pun related to El-Sayed’s remarks.

Others had a more serious viewpoint. The senior policy director of Do No Harm stated, “Sex-rejecting surgeries are not comparable to circumcision, and everyone on this planet knows that, including El-Sayed. Candidates who choose to die on this hill will deserve their election losses.” Singaporean journalist Melissa Chen suggested that El-Sayed avoided directly addressing if he supports gender-affirming care for minors, to avoid alienating his supporters.

Circumcision is an elective surgical procedure usually performed on infants. Some experts and critics have raised concerns about the procedure, including issues of consent, medical necessity, and associated risks.

As of Tuesday, the El-Sayed campaign has not responded to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.